9 Ways to be Grateful

“People spend a lifetime looking for more, when they could’ve spent a lifetime enjoying what life has offered.”

Often when a person is struggling to achieve their goals, they are too packed to appreciate what they have in life. Once such a person achieves their targets, gratitude becomes secondary to them. They are so much engaged in cherishing those moments of success that they forget the factors and people who have somehow contributed to their triumph.

In this fast paced life, it’s easy to miss the tracking of every day passing by. Sometimes, we need to stop, look around and play our role as humans and as a part of this world.

“At the end of the day people won’t remember what you said or did, they will remember how you made them feel.” And to make them feel loved and appreciated, you express gratitude.

Ways to become grateful in life:

1. Join UPDEED

Updeed is referred to as ‘a positive space on Internet’. It is an online networking platform where people share inspirational and positive stories from around the globe. Updeed is home to numerous change-makers who are putting effort in to make this world a better place to live. To start your journey of being grateful, you can join Updeed. Here, you can appreciate and express gratitude for people’s good deeds. Use features like virtual claps, comments, Appreciate, Gratitude Wall, award nominations, and several others to appreciate others’ good deeds and motivate them. You can also share your positive stories and fulfill your role of giving back the positivity you receive from others.

2. Don’t Be Picky: Appreciate Everything

If you set the bar for appreciation high, you’ll miss out on crucial happy moments in life. Getting the dream job isn’t the only event to appreciate. Getting a chance to appear in an interview and gaining experience are also moments we can be grateful for. Gratitude isn’t a ‘limited edition’ that needs to be saved for the ‘big’ things in life.

In fact, gratitude starts with the minutest of things that we usually ignore, for example, the vibrant colors in the sky during dusk.

3. Remember The Bitter Experiences

Every accident ends up with scars that remind us of how lucky we are to have survived, making us grateful for our life. Every bitter experience ends with a similar reminder of how difficult life used to be and how far you have come. Bitter experiences create an image of a cloudy sky, while good experiences signify a clear, sunny sky. When you compare these two scenarios, you can observe the difference. This will uplift the feeling of gratefulness in you for the moments that weren’t bad.

4. Use Visual Reminders

Sometimes we are genuinely grateful and at the same time, genuinely forgetful. Our to-do lists keep on elongating and that results in gratitude shifting lower and lower in the list. Even if you want to express gratitude, it might not be primary in your priorities and thus, might slip from the mind.

To avoid this, keep visual reminders. It can be in the form of post-its or other people. You can write the acts of gratitude you need to do on the post-its. Keep them in your sight and every time you look at them, they’ll act as cues to trigger thoughts of gratitude.

5. Check For Silver Linings

When are we NOT grateful? ~ When we are constantly looking at the negatives are bad experiences in life, and we remain unsatisfied with what we have been blessed.  Maurice Setter quoted, “too many people miss the silver lining because they’re expecting gold.” Even the most challenging life challenges come with some advantages — you have to look to find them. Making a mistake teaches you a lesson. When things seem complicated, ask yourself: What’s the silver lining to this cloud?

6. Volunteer

One of the best ways to recognize good things in life is to look at those who aren’t as blessed as us. Some people are deprived of the necessities and luxuries that we have. Stepping in their shoes and helping them is a significant step towards being grateful.

You’ve received ample from the society and the world, so it’s time to increment and give it back to others. While looking at the homeless, we realize the importance of our home. Observing a limping pup reminds us of the physical abilities we generally take for granted. For many people, the key to having more gratitude is to give back to others in their local community. Studies have shown that volunteering to help others increases our well-being, and thus our ability to have more gratitude.

7. Keep a Gratitude Journal

“Journal writing is a voyage to the interior.”

Writing things down helps us to keep track of them, whether it’s about happy memories, bitter experiences or moments of gratitude. Keeping a journal of all of the things you are grateful for can help you keep track of and refer back to the positives in your life.

Write down your positive thoughts and introspect yourself. When you’re penning down something, you have no other way than to focus on not noting the ungrateful thoughts.

8. Use Technology to Send Gratitude Messages.

A research conducted by CMR shows that a person, on average, spends 5.5 hours on the phone….every single day! Even this duration holds an opportunity to express gratitude to those who deserve it. Harness the power of this technology to send out some good vibes, such as a text or social networking comment, to tell your friends why you appreciate them.

You can make a donation for a positive campaign or show your support for them like attending live events of positive plant. Congratulate people on their achievements via text. Or join Updeed App – a space to express gratitude to people and appreciate their good deeds. Moreover, Updeed has a unique feature called ‘Gratitude Wall’ where you can recommend people who deserve acknowledgment and gratitude for bringing positivity to the world.

9. Watch your Language

the speaker, and the situation are also crucial in deciding the effect it’ll have on the receiver. Try to think before speaking every statement and react to it if you were the listener.

Language is more than stringing the words. Gesture, body language, expressions, and many other factors together display your gratitude to others. While expressing gratitude, it’s essential to focus on what others have done for us instead of how naturally good we are.

Gratitude is the healthiest of all human emotions. The more you express gratitude for what you have, the more likely you will have even more to express for. Gratitude is contagious. Experiencing appreciation motivates others to be grateful to those around them who are involved in good deeds. The right time to start being grateful is whenever you do it. There are uncountable ways to express your thankfulness, but you can create with the ones mentioned here to simplify. Begin with joining Updeed and entering a space of positivity where everyone is sharing positive stories. Updeed users are the torchbearers of positivity, and such change-makers are the most suitable to start expressing your gratitude.